Their Feelings
by Durbe the Barian
Summary: Link is sick. As Ilia helps take care of him, Link notices that something's on her mind. But what? Takes place after Twilight Princess.


**Zelda Oneshot**

**Their Feelings**

**Link/Ilia**

**Romance**

**Takes place after the game's end. **

**Link is sick. As Ilia helps take care of him, Link notices there's something on her mind. But what?**

**(If I owned this stuff, Ilia and Link would be canon.)**

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**Their Feelings**

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Link was sick.

Nobody knew what had happened.

The children were worried about Link, Colin most of all. There he was, laying on the couch in Rusl's house, barely sleeping thanks to a fever-induced nightmare of his past adventure. The past adventure he hardly spoke of. Many of the things he did could not be told to children. (Such as being turned into a wolf, going to another world, fighting live skeletons and skulls, ect.)

The very same adventure that saved the children of the village at the cost of his health.

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It had hardly been a week since he returned to the village.

He had been working as hard as he used to, trying to put the past behind him. But it was of little use. Something was weighing him down.

And after a week, he found that that which was weighing him down was a problem in his health.

Initially, he simply had a light cough. Nothing too serious. But that cough was actually the calm before the storm. After that was a high fever and nausea. Then finally, he fainted while he was helping with the goats.

Fado brought him to Rusl without thinking. He knew absolutely nothing about sicknesses. Not like Rusl did.

Rusl took one look at Link and was worried beyond compare. "Bring him in," he said.

Fado then placed Link on the couch in Rusl's home.

It didn't take Rusl long to figure out what had happened to him. The twilight specks on his neck were all that he needed. After covering Link with a blanket to keep him warm, he left the house and gave him some peace.

His words were far from encouraging. "I've only seen this once," he told the adults, "but that once was enough for me to remember for life. He's been trapped between light and darkness for too long."

"How can that happen?" the mayor asked worriedly.

"I don't know," Rusl admitted. "But I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for him. All we can do now is make him as comfortable as possible and hope he'll pull through."

Nobody was happy to hear such a thing. Not even Colin or Ilia, who happened to overhear. Colin looked up to Ilia. "Do you think Link is going to be okay?" he asked.

Ilia didn't have an answer. She was too shocked to think.

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The following day, both Ilia and Colin were allowed to help Uli take care of Link. That eased Ilia's anxiety, as she was able to stay close to Link, but one look at his pale, flushed face, and all her worries came right back up to her throat. Link was conscious, and clearly in pain. He didn't speak when he saw the two of them, but he forced a smile onto his sickly face.

Uli wiped Link's brow and changed his shirt. Her motherly instincts were a huge help. That's for sure. When compared to what Uli was doing, Ilia could only watch. Even Colin was doing more than she was.

"I'm so useless," she thought.

Link's hazy eyes looked over to her. "What's the matter, Ilia?" he wondered. "Why are you so upset?"

Ilia could do nothing more than stand and watch.

But Ilia's gaze, something that had never left Link for even a moment, was not missed by the mother of two. After making sure Link was comfortable, she stood up and said, "Come, Colin. Let's go see how your father's doing with the medicine."

"Okay," Colin said.

"Should I come too?" Ilia asked.

"No," Uli said gently. "You just keep an eye on Link until we get back."

Then mother and son left, leaving Ilia alone with Link.

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Ilia sat beside the sickened hero. The bedridden blond-haired boy was sleeping fairly soundly now, but that didn't stop Ilia from turning bright red just by looking at him. "Link," she said softly. "Are you asleep?"

When it came to Link, she never could tell. For all she knew, he could be faking sleeping just to listen in on what it was she was trying to say.

But she could only hope that this one time, Link actually was asleep. She seriously doubted that he was awake, though, when his body demanded rest.

She took his hand slowly and stared at his face. "Remember when I thought you hurt Epona?" she asked. "And I told you to come back home safely? And then, later on, I was kidnapped and forgot about you? Well, there was a reason I told you that." She leaned forward a little bit. "I didn't want to lose you, Link."

She then paused and gulped briefly. "Link...I lo...I lo..."

She felt the urge to kick herself. Here he was, sleeping, totally unaware of what was happening around him, and yet she couldn't say three small words. Three small words that would have absolutely no impact on her life, so long as he didn't hear 'em. So, why? Why couldn't she say it?

Ilia couldn't find the answer to it before Uli and Colin came back with the medicine. "Ilia?" Uli asked. "What's the matter?"

Ilia didn't answer. Rather, she excused herself and left. And Colin was totally clueless as to why.

Uli, however, had a pretty good idea.

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It was a week before Link showed any signs of improvement. The week after that, he was back on his feet, though Rusl clearly stated that Link was **not** to practice swordsmanship or do anything too strenuous for the rest of the month. So he took to fishing with Colin. The young boy was more than happy to do just that.

About two to three days into his recovery, Link and Ilia met up with each other. (Coincidence and Fate. The ultimate matchmakers.)

Ilia had been taking care of Epona for the past couple of days. She had usually washed her in the spring near the village when Link was either sleeping or just not looking, so their meeting was very awkward for her. There Link stood, several different fish on a line, Colin standing next to him with several smaller fish on his own line. "Hey, Ilia," Link said.

Ilia found herself turning red. "Hello, Link," she responded, turning her head away so she wouldn't have to look at him.

Link was slightly worried about his childhood friend. Usually, she was much more firm than that. He looked down to Colin. "Hey, Colin," he said. "Why don't you go take the fish to Rusl, okay?"

"Got it!" Colin said happily, taking the fish that Link had been carrying and walking away.

It took until Colin was out of eyeshot for either of them to say a word. "Um, how are you feeling, Link?" Ilia asked.

Link was confused, but answered nonetheless. "I'm doing fine," he said. "Uli and Rusl have been making sure of it."

"I'm glad," Ilia said with a smile.

Silence loomed over both of them. "Thank you," Link finally said.

"For what?" Ilia asked. "You mean for taking care of Epona? Oh, you don't have to thank me. That's what friends are for."

"Actually, Ilia," Link said, "I wanted to thank you for taking care of me."

Ilia's face adopted a shade of crimson.

Link then rubbed the back of his head. "You were the one who kept an eye on me while Uli and Colin went to get the medicine, right?" he asked. "I wasn't able to hear right and I was having a hard time seeing things, but that was you, right?"

"And how would you know that?" Ilia asked.

Link chuckled a little bit. "It was your scent," he said. "I'd know it anywhere." (He might have spent a little too much time as a wolf.)

Ilia's face just went redder. "Y-You're welcome," she said. Then she proceeded to walk away.

"Wait a minute, Ilia," Link called.

Little late.

Ilia was gone.

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Link was sitting in the room that Uli and Rusl had lent him. (They felt the need to keep an eye on him.) His cotton pajamas hung limply on his thin frame. He wasn't eating too much when he got sick, and the whole recovery stage made it difficult for him to regain his appetite.

His jaw was resting in his hands as he stared out into the starry sky.

"Ilia...," he thought.

He opened his hand, revealing the hand-made Horse Call that Ilia had made for him prior to his adventure with Midna. The very thing that brought Ilia, **his **Ilia, back after she had lost her memory. She didn't know it, but he had made it a point to carry it with him wherever he went.

He closed his hand and looked over to the mayor's house. "I wonder," he thought, pulling himself away from the window so he could lie down. "I wonder if I'll ever be able to tell her." He then looked at his left hand, where his Triforce of Courage mark was imprinted. "Ilia..."

There was one other thing he wanted to say before she ran off that day.

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Ilia was in her nightgown, staring out the window as she readied herself for sleep. She focused her gaze on Rusl's house, where she knew Link was sleeping. "Link," she thought, "when I first heard that you were sick, I was more scared then I ever was in my life. I thought I was going to lose you. And when I saw your state at the time, I froze. I wanted to tell you how I felt so badly, but I just couldn't."

She then placed her hairbrush on the table and sat down in her bed. Her eyes were directed to a picture of Link and herself when they were children. Epona was behind them, trying to eat Link's hair. "I wonder," she thought, smiling softly. "I wonder if I'll ever be able to tell you. If I do, how would you react? Link..."

Then she fell asleep.

Two hearts, connected. Their thoughts, spanning across the twilight; would they ever reach the other? Would they ever know how the other truly feels?

**END?**

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**D.T.B: Let me know how you guys like this. If you like it enough, I might make a sequel. So, read, review, and enjoy. **


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